30Squares at LR Presse's Le Grand DÉFI

 While we were visiting France in February I read about a modelling challenge the magazine Loco-Revue was holding that involved building a small railway oriented diorama that met the following requirements:

1. Base measures 30cm long x 15cm wide.

2. HO scale.

3. A piece of 16.5mm gauge track runs from one short side to the other.

4. The track base is 25mm above the bottom of the module.

5. Includes a reference to one or more Olympic sports.

6. Includes at least one building.

7. Includes some vegetation.

8. Includes a 20cm tall background.

(Ok, well, this is my English translation of the requirements, so blame any discrepancies with respect to the French originals on me.)

As soon as I read the post an idea for a diorama immediately popped into my mind. There was no humming-and-hawing, no period of reflection, no head scratching, just an instant idea that I’d find interesting to build.

Now, I’m normally a non-contest, non-challenge, do my own thing, go my own way, Infinite Game, kind of model railway enthusiast. I’ve never entered a contest or challenge before, but I’ve never had a doable idea to fulfill a challenge’s requirements just pop into my head like that before, so I figured I should give this one a go. 

 

I’m glad I did. 

I started my diorama on 25 February as soon as we got back home and submitted it for consideration on 23 April. The guys at LR Presse were cool and graciously allowed my submission to be included in the challenge even though I live on the other side of the Atlantic, feature a Canadian prototype, and can barely string two words together in French. 

But, entering isn’t why I was glad I created this diorama. I’m glad because building it was pleasure from beginning to end. Normally when I get going on a new project I stop-and-start, and things drag on, and I lose my motivation, and it takes weeks to get it back, and I start other things, and the cycle erratically repeats until I’m done. Weeks, months, and sometimes years go by. None of that happened with this little project. It was 2 months of continuous, uninterrupted pleasure. It’s been a long time since I was so motivated and enthusiastic about a build. It got me out of a rut and back into the swing of things: I finally started my long delayed Mt. Lowe inspired layout, and finished up details on the Centennial Experimental Farm. In light of this experience I’m going to have to revisit my thoughts on Finite Games - they apparently have some value I didn’t appreciate.

The Olympic sport I reference in the diorama is canoeing and kayaking. To explain a bit here’s some background information I submitted in a puff piece along with my entry:

“From the mid 1600s to the early 1700s the legendary ‘coureurs de bois’, often in allegiance with First Nations peoples, travelled the length and breadth of the waterways by canoe the northern interior regions of what would eventually become Canada hunting pelts for the trans-Atlantic fur trade. Les coureurs de bois were entrepreneurs and adventurers from New France not to mention expert canoeists and outdoorsmen. They were also considered to be outlaws because they did what they did without permits from any colonial authorities.

The lakes and rivers of Canada, many of which were criss-crossed by les coureurs de bois, are still being plied today by canoeists and kayakers in search of an authentic experience of wilderness and natural beauty.

One such area is serviced by a VIA Rail route stretching from Sudbury to White River in the province of Ontario. It is a 484 km rail line through lands of dense northern forests and numerous waterways. This train is a favourite way for canoeists and backwoods trekkers to haul their canoes and hiking gear to a trip starting point as the train will stop wherever you want it to. It can be arranged to have the train stop by a river or lake for a group to unload their canoes and gear and set off on an adventure. Same deal on return. You can stand by the track and flag down the train to pick up you and your gear, or prearrange a pickup along the line.

VIA Rail operates the route with Budd’s self-propelled Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs), specifically an RDC-2, a combination passenger and baggage coach, and an RDC-4, a combination railway post office and baggage coach. When going from Sudbury to White River, the train is called ‘Train 185’, and on the return trip it is called ‘Train 186’.

The northern interior of Canada is one of canoeing’s primeval sites that contributed to the long world history of what would become an Olympic sport in 1936 after being first demonstrated 100 years ago at the 1924 Paris Olympics. In honour of this heritage I chose to create a fictional scene of canoes being unloaded from a VIA Rail RDC-2 at a remote boathouse stop, and a kayaker, who after unloading his kayak, sets off from the stop to test his skills against the lake’s natural forces in preparation for a competition. The diorama’s boathouse station, landscape, and scene are fictional, but draw their inspiration from the Olympic values, the adventurous spirit of New France’s coureurs de bois and the First Nations peoples, VIA Rail Trains 185 and 186, as well as the forests and waterways of Ontario.”

I can’t say enough about how much fun this little project was. I’m looking forward to more experiences like this one.

One last thing before I go for coffee. If you've got 3 hours you can ride the real Train 185 from the comfort of your couch thanks to this excellent video from TVO: